Simple Fashion - Dresses, Part 3

Honestly, I'm surprised that I never posted another installment for dresses before leaving in 2021, especially under the Simple Fashion tag. For those of you new to Material Middle-earth, my Simple Fashion category is designed for mostly minimalist outfits using as few cosmetics as possible. Most will use two or three pieces and, on the rare occasion, four. In addition to dresses, I've tackled hauberks, tunics, and robes. To find all of those easily, either click the Simple Fashion tag at the bottom of this entry or follow this convenient link here, covering everything created under this umbrella category over the years.

Without further ado, here are three dresses.

 

Head: Circlet of Fresh-picked Flowers (Turquoise, Farmers Faire barter reward)

Shoulders: Ascot Scarf  (White, Farmers Faire barter reward)

Chest: Picnic Dress (Turquoise, Summer Festival barter reward)

His & Hers - Riverside Attire

It's been about seven years since I last wrote an entry for a His & Hers set. Perhaps I should have explored that theme more often. Over the years, festivals have offered tunic and dress pairs (sometimes robe and dress) with similar designs. And on the rare occasion, reputation factions have done the same. It's a wonderful thing to have that kind of flexibility in clothing styles. Quite often in the past I've looked at a cosmetic reward, loved the colors and design, and said to myself "It's too bad there isn't a dress alternative, because it would look lovely!"

During the Black Friday sales, I cashed in what LP I had left and purchased the Superior River Hobbit Bundle at a remarkable 75% discount. Aside of housing items, they contained a jacket, dress, and an assortment of other cosmetic pieces for the newest playable race, the River Hobbit. I may not have shown all of the coffer's pieces in these outfits, but the dress and jacket look amazing on all races.

Shoulders: Wildermore Shoulderpads of Tactics (White, crafted from the Wildermore Shoulderpads reputation recipe)*

Chest: Dress of the River-folk (Burgundy, Superior River Hobbit Bundle)

Feet: Westemnet Campaign Shoes of Fate (Burgundy, crafted from the Westemnet Campaign Shoes recipe)

*The Tailor's Guild also offers this recipe, allowing the player to bypass the Wildermore reputation requirement.

Back: Snow-strider's Mantle (Olive, Yule Festival barter reward)

Shoulders: Shoulderpads of the Osgiliath Bowmaster (Grey, Ruined City T2 Hunter class set)**
Chest: Jerkin and Trousers of the River-folk (Burgundy, Superior River Hobbit Bundle)
Feet: Westemnet Campaign Shoes of Fate (Burgundy, crafted from the Westemnet Campaign Shoes recipe)

**Wardens and Burglars can also win this skin from the Osgiliath Ruins Armour box. Must run at level 100 or higher for chance to drop.

Springtime Symphony

Another year has come and go in LOTRO. Not only does the Spring Festival herald the return of warm weather and fragrant flowers, it also heralds the coming of both LOTRO's fourteenth and Material Middle-earth's ninth anniversaries. It's hard to believe both this game and blog has been running for that long. Time is incredibly short this month, and odds are I won't have my usual anniversary post. In lieu of that, I've put together three outfits, each of which use at least one bartered piece obtained from the Spring Festival. Some of the pieces seen here, like the Naruhel cosmetics, are new while others, like the Simbelmynë cosmetics, are nearly a decade old.

This first outfit used the newest addition to the Spring Festival vendors. Not only does it use the aforementioned Naruhel cosmetics, specifically the vines covering the arms and shoulders, it also uses a dress worn by Goldberry and the various River-maidens encountered throughout the story. Though not the most original skins in the game, in a sense because they're pre-existing assets, it's amazing that we've been seeing NPC clothing converted into player clothing (my fingers are crossed for Glathlírel's armor)! I hope the trend continues. Anyway, between the dress and vines, it was possible to create a nature-centric outfit combining the essences of earth and water. And the Groom's Myrtle Circlet was thrown in for good measure.

Head: Groom's Myrtle Circlet (Autumn leaf, Midsummer Festival barter reward)

Shoulders: Naruhel's Shawl (Default, Spring Festival Festivity Token barter reward)

Back: Cloak of the Autumn Traveler (Rohan green, Fall Festival barter reward)

Chest: Short-sleeved Dress of the Spring Maid (Rohan green, Spring Festival barter reward)

Hands: Vines of Naruhel (Default, Spring Festival Festivity Token barter reward)

Outfit Variations

In recent weeks, some old and beloved friends returned to LOTRO. I've enjoyed questing with them, trying to balance my time between the normal and legendary servers. We agreed to stay on the same page, leveling or progressing the story only when we're together. It's been wonderful experiencing the well-written and timeless story of LOTRO again. And, more importantly, having a new alt meant having eight new outfit slots!

Whenever one person stepped away for food or some other reason during those sessions, I've gradually squeezed in some new-ish appearances during those downtimes. (The Subscriber Town Services item gotten from the VIP vendor, with instant vault and wardrobe access, has been a blessing!) I call these "new-ish" for a single reason. These were previously shared outfits that I've repurposed by altering color schemes and changing a few pieces. Making new outfits has been an ever increasing struggle and I've got to keep the creative juices flowing somehow. After all, I've made more than 250 custom appearances over nearly nine years! Not all of these repurposed outfits have been spectacular, but I thought I should share a few here. This blog has been about ideas, after all!

Before I list the pieces and the source outfits, I wanted to mention the legendary servers again. It's been a slow process with that "Story Pace" debuff, but I managed to reach level 100 and unlock all six special account-wide cloaks. Each cloak was earned through completing specific quests from the Epic storyline. I've been working with them recently and hope to have new outfits centered on said cloaks. As to when? I haven't a clue. However, I've been excited this past week to finally check something off my secret blog wish list!

 

Source Outfit: Recollections of the Last Alliance

Head: Circlet of Lorien (Default, Midsummer Festival barter reward)

Shoulders: Strong Shoulder Guards of the Reclaimed City (White, reward from The Fallen King Renewed)

Back: Cloak of Many Worlds (White, comes from the World Consolidation Gift Box)

Chest: Reinforced Hauberk of the Last Alliance (Black, reward from Rescue Rangers)**

Hands: Strong Gauntlets of the Last Alliance (Default, High-enchanter vendor in Mordor)

Feet: Thick Sabatons of the Last Alliance (Default, High-enchanter vendor in Mordor)

**This skin can also be bartered through the High-enchanter NPC in Mordor.

Frozen Elegance

 

Once again, the art department at Standing Stone Games delivered an impressive and equally beautiful collection of new Yule Festival cosmetics with a wintry gala theme. They've definitely captured the essence of winter in a elegant, yet cozy way. Gloredh, thankfully, over at Wandering Around Arda has provided the community with wonderful screenshots of the new items. The Yule Festival runs through January 5th, 2021 and there is plenty of time for earning the require barter tokens. 

The Gala-worthy Dress, featured here, was the most breathtaking piece. Not only does it have a gorgeous snowflake pattern and copper-toned holly leaves, it dyes brightly and is a sight to behold in any color! The other item that caught my attention was the Cloak of Flurries. It doesn't dye, but the delicate curtain of iridescent snowflakes more than compensates for that shortcoming. There aren't many iridescent skins in the game, most of them gated behind raids like Orthanc, Draigoch, and Anvil and the ever elusive Curator NPC, so don't miss this chance for a shiny reward!

Autumn Leaf Fashion

I need to put it out there that if I missed LOTRO's Fall Festival--my favorite one by the way--I might have quit LOTRO permanently. As most of my readers and Twitter followers know, this has been a rough year investing in LOTRO. It's been one thing after another, all in rapid succession. A pandemic that forced me into 60+ hour work weeks from April to September. (I had one afternoon of playtime this past July, and that was it.) I came back to an unstable game, due to a combination of issues with SSG's service provider and their server infrastructure. Once the connection issues stabilized early October, my PC monitor died. I replaced it, only to have my PC's motherboard and processor kick the proverbial bucket nearly a week later. I had no choice but to rebuild my PC, which took approximately three weeks. 

Although these circumstances have been out of my control, I feel terrible leaving this blog all but abandoned this year. To make up for lost time, I'll be sharing three new outfits, each featuring a new cosmetic from the 2020 Fall Festival. Golden leaf motifs and tattered, perhaps more accurate to say leafy, fabric are the core components of this year's theme. Between the Leaf-turner cosmetics, which are somewhat reminiscent of pre-Isengard elven design, the spookier looking Autumn Sage ones, I'd say SSG has captured the festival's essence. I haven't been this impressed with the seasonal fall designs since 2018!

Head: Woodland Crown (Default, Yule Festival token barter reward)
Shoulders: Fur Mantle (Orange, Yule Festival token barter reward)
Chest: Vestments of the Autumn Sage (White, Fall Festival token barter reward)
Feet: Embroidered Shoes of the Dunland Healer (Rust, reward from Missing Persons)**

Weapon: Smooth Holly Staff (From the T6 Woodworker Holly Staff recipe)

Middle-earth Midsummer

Greetings! Between a lack of time, a serious burn out, and adjusting to a global pandemic, I've fallen behind in all of my MMOs, missing updates and events. I don't know when I'll be ready to return to online gaming, but I did have a chance to explore LOTRO's Midsummer Festival, which coincides with Aragorn and Arwen's wedding, for a single day. Between a generous Twitter follower and kinnies who sent me gift boxes and a brief time spent collecting tokens around Minas Tirith, I acquired the latest cosmetics.

Sadly, I don't and probably won't have the time for tinkering with the Groom's Tunic and the Bridal Veil. However, I did have the chance to make three new appearances with the festival's new dresses. Inspiration struck hard and fast, taking no more than an hour to build, dye, and take quick pictures. I loved how billowy these dresses were, especially on a human female!

I'm not sure when I'll have the opportunity to post new content again, but I hope you enjoy this latest entry!

Head: Circlet of Osgiliath's Fury (White, Osgiliath Dome Armour box from T2 Dome of Stars)**
Shoulders: Embroidered Mantle of the Pathfinder's Artifice (Ered luin blue, T11 Tailor recipe bartered from the Gorgoroth reputation vendor)
Chest: Arwen's Dinner Dress (Sea blue, Midsummer Festival token barter reward)

**This circlet skin can be obtained by any light armor class. Dome must be run on T2 at a minimum of level 50 and any boss can drop this box.

An Autumn Fashion Show

Autumn is my favorite time of year. On one hand, there's the cool crisp air, freshly picked apples, and the symphony of colors as the leaves fall from the trees. All images of peace and relaxation. On the other hand, there's the tricking and treating, conjuring spooky images and atmospheres, and wearing costumes ranging from the lighthearted and adorable to the gloomy and ghastly. And then there's my favorite event--LOTRO's Fall Festival and all of the wonderful rewards that come with it. Each of the outfits below features a barter reward from the festival.

As some of you may know from Twitter or the Issue #132 of the Beacon, Rangers of the West, is hosting the server-wide fashion contest, Frights of Fancy, on Sunday, October 27th. Both Makaia of Style of Middle-earth and myself will be presiding as judges. There are two main categories--"Scariest Outfit" and "Autumn-themed Outfit." We also had a third theme planned, the "Look-a-Like," but after much debate, it was dropped from the program. This part would have had players dressing up like major characters from the lore, specifically from the time period between The Hobbit and Return of the King. Seeing as Gladden's not the busiest server, we didn't want to risk having too few people for too many categories. (This could be brought back if we have enough interest on the forums! *cough cough*)

Even though I can't enter the contest, I plan on dressing the part on my Minstrel and changing outfits with each theme. The first outfit, featuring an elegant red dress, falls into the Autumn one. The second outfit, featuring a black dress embroidered with barren branches, fits in the Scariest one. (This is a modified version of an old outfit.)  And the third outfit? This is my interpretation of Eowyn, for the scrapped Look-a-Like, before she secretly joins the ranks of the Gondor-bound Rohirrim.

Enjoy the festivities! I hope to see many fellow Gladdenites at next weekend's fashion show!

Head: Circlet of Fresh-picked Flowers (Sunset Orange, Farmers Faire barter reward)
Shoulders: Songmaster's Shoulders (Orange, bartered from the Minstrel class trainer in Ost Galadh)**
Back: Cloak of the Autumn Sun (White, Fall Festival barter reward)
Chest: Long-sleeved Summer Dress (Red, Summer Festival barter reward)***

**Shares same skin as the Shoulder of the Lady's Grace, bartered from the Minstrel class trainer in Lothlórien for an elf-stone from Dâr Narbugud.
***Sunset Orange is a wonderful alternative to red. The dress looks slightly, but noticeably brighter.

Simple Fashion - Dresses Pt. 2

Finally, I've gotten back to my Simple Fashion theme! It's only taken three and a half years. I've hinted it a couple of times between this blog, Facebook, and Twitter since last year, but I wasn't sure if I'd ever actively make any headway. "Simple Fashion," for those seeing this tag/theme for the first time, means precisely that. Three or four, max, pieces were used in each of these outfits. Also, these particular entries have served a secondary purpose in the past--which I hope will continue to hold true--and that's to revitalize cosmetics often forgotten, underutilized, or overlooked.

To see the work I've previously completed under this theme, click on the Simple Fashion tag at the bottom of the post or simply (no pun intended) click here.

Head: Fancy Plumed Hat (Ashenslades green, LOTRO Store)
Shoulders: Shoulders of the Eorlingas (Default, Rise of Isengard Heroic or Legendary edition pre-order bonus)
Chest: Farmer's Fancy Dress (Shire peach, Farmers Faire token reward)

Picnic Power

There's a bit of a story behind this outfit. My kinship, Rangers of the West, hosts what we call Open Group twice a week--once on Friday evenings and once on Sunday afternoons (server time, at least from my perspective) when we are the most active. Basically, this is when we encourage players of all classes and levels to speak up if they need certain content run. Sometimes we have several groups running at once and we try to keep them all within a certain level range to avoid facerolling the content.

One week in October of 2017, we decided to shake up Open Group a bit. You see, our lower level players had felt a tad neglected. Lots of high level dungeons were being run. What we decided was to make this a sort of free for all event that would preserve the challenge/fun for our low level kinnies. Everyone was told to bring starter weapons with them that way DPS and healing would be level across the board. I chose to add some humor to our special event. A 115 champion dual wielding Butter Knives from the Mathom-house overlayed with Baskets of Apples from the Fall Festival. I didn't stop there. I made an outfit specifically to go with those apples! (By the way, those apples never seem to fall from the basket, no matter how wildy they're swung!)

Shire Plum Shenanigans

This month's entry, though posted later than usual, features three outfits using the seldom seen shire plum dye. Shire plum, like purple, yellow, sunset orange, is a very bold, very bright color. When working with these dyes, it's best to remember the phrase "less is more." Depending on what clothing or armor you're dyeing, you'll stand out like a sore thumb on a earthen-toned of muted landscape. You might blind yourself standing in bright sunlight. You might blind your fellowship. You might even blind Durin's Bane in the dark depths of Moria. You may not even need the Phial of Galadriel to stand toe to toe against Shelob!

Originally, I had some overly complicated outfits put together in the dressing room when I began using this color...and they were downright obnoxious. I took a couple of them to the landscape for a few days, curious how they would appear in practical landscape use. Needless to say, that first wave failed. For the second wave, I scaled back this particular project and found the next set of outfits to be far more visually appealing. It's this wave you'll find featured here. If you're on Gladden, you might get lucky and see me adventuring in these!

At this point, I can safely say I've had my share of bright colors for now! I don't even want to think what kind of work yellow (the one dye I've refused, so far, to use) will require if shire plum was this difficult...

Head: Circlet of Fresh-picked Flowers (Shire plum, Farmers Faire barter reward)
Shoulders: Supple Wildermore Shoulderpads of Tactics (White, T8 Tailor's Guild recipe or Wildermore reputation recipe)
Chest: Elegant Formal Dress (Shire plum, LOTRO Store)

His & Hers - An Ornate Yuletide

It's hard to believe another year has come and gone in LOTRO. And it's even more difficult to believe that I actually have a chance to upload some Yule outfits, let alone have a PC to upload them with (last year, I didn't have a working one)! I'll be keeping this post rather brief. As I'm finalizing this entry, and scheduling to auto-post while I'm working Saturday morning, I have a batch of mini oreo cheesecakes chilling in the fridge. Soon they'll be done, and then it's back to the kitchen for more baking! This will be my only chance to squeeze in some LOTRO time until after Christmas.

Of Anniversaries and the Ithilien Spring

Seldom do I get overly excited about my character's attire. I've been in cosmetic overdrive since I returned to LOTRO. In such overdrive that, in fact, I've had dreams about what my characters could wear. Moments I've been at my job mentally piecing various skins together and dyeing them. I guess that having worked with the cosmetics from LOTRO for so long that I don't even need to be logged in anymore to do this. Once I envisioned this, I wrote each of the pieces down, and sat down at my PC the first chance I had. I've been waiting for an opportunity to use those North Ithilien cosmetics!

When was the last time I devoted an entire entry to a dress? And when was the last time I jumped into a Spring theme? I wanted greens, whites, yellows, pinks, flowers...anything that captured the heart and soul of the warming, sunny weather and the flowers beginning to bloom.

Autumn Attire

It's certainly been some time since my last entry. I've been playing LOTRO quite a bit lately, taking time to work on my characters' gear and catching up on both the new zones and completing the epic story. I found myself falling farther and farther behind my friends and kinmates the more time I spent getting cosmetically creative. Believe it or not, most of my characters have been muddling through with the old statted level 95 gear since Western Gondor was released. I found myself unable to do group content at 105. I obstinately resisted the essence gear from its initial release until Update 19, which was a major mistake. I've come to realize that the essence grind is real. Same goes for stocking scrolls of empowerment. It's a much larger commitment than any level cap gear grind I've ever put myself through and the amount of time I've had to dedicate has been astonishing.

Now that I feel comfortable where I am in terms of character progression, I thought I should post a little something. In fact, since it's been so long, I have THREE autumn-themed outfits to present. Hopefully, I'll be back with more before the winter holiday season!

And I have a ton of outfits on my Beorning to post too! But that's if I ever find time to get out of Moria and get her to level 65. I have specific places in mind for screenshots...and I won't settle for anything less!

In the meantime, here are three autumn-inspired creations!

Head: Ceremonial Circlet of the Graven Word (Bullroarer's green, cosmetic skirmish camp vendor -- Light Rift set)
Shoulders: Ceremonial Shoulders of the Seven Stars (Sunset orange, cosmetic skirmish camp vendor -- Light Annuminas set)
Back: Pack of the Yield (Sunset orange, Farmer's Faire barter reward)
Chest: Tunic and Trousers of the New Bloom (Sunset orange, Spring Festival barter reward)
Hands: Pelennor Bracers of Wrath (Sunset orange, Vol 4 Epic quest reward)**
Feet: Ceremonial Nenuial's Boots (Walnut brown, cosmetic skirmish camp vendor -- Medium Annuminas set)

**Shares skin with any of the medium gloves from the Eastemnet Armor Quartermatser found in Rohan

Revisiting the Early Days of MME

As promised in late November, I've gone back in time to 2012, taken old outfits from this blog, and reposted them here in bigger, brighter pictures with much improved graphical quality. It was difficult to choose from over fifty outfits, but I narrowed that list down to eight. With each picture, I've included the name of the outfit (most sound soooo corny!) and a link back to the original post for the dyes and skins. I almost changed some of the pieces, but decided to leave them as is.

Normally I post new outfits on Saturday, but I thought this would be a refreshing change of pace.

You might be wondering what was my reasoning for doing this? Here's my first reason. I never had the followers in 2012 that I have nowadays. When Material Middle-earth was in its infancy, I was lucky to get a hundred views a month. Nowadays, it nets at least several thousand. By not establishing myself on Facebook until late 2013 and Twitter in 2014, many LOTRO players didn't have the chance to see my early work as it was posted. I am hoping, today, that you'll join me on a sentimental journey and see where it all began. And for the second reason, this week's entry allowed me to exhaust whatever marks, medallions, and dyes remained simply by recreating these.

Also, don't forget that next Saturday I'll be posting my farewell entry with a new outfit! Before then, I'll be honoring one last outfit concept from a follower. If all goes well, that ensemble will appear here on Wednesday morning.

The War-forged Defender

Winter Windsinger - Morghann of Gladden

One of the common associations with winter is the need to wear warm, and often insulating, clothing. This week, instead of focusing on that particular association, I've opted to portray the season in another style. Questions like "If winter were a person, what style he/she wear?" or "How would winter perceive itself in terms of colors?" or even "What kind of personality does winter have?" were rolling through my mind. I'll admit, it's a bit of an abstract place to start, but I'd like to think the final product justifies the process. Here you have a relatively simple, elegant ensemble using a minimal amount of colors in an almost pastel, unimposing fashion.

Harvestmath Series - Harbinger

Black, when used in the right proportions and places, can work wonders for any fashionable ensemble. The greatest strength of this dye is the ability to make all other colors appear brighter and draw the eye towards them. Unfortunately, that strength is also its Achilles' heel. The darkest colors will sometimes reveal subtleties in undyeable areas normally not noticeable. Half the time, those other colors don't match or blend together very well. (It's something I often see in LOTRO's major hubs where unprecedented numbers of players have dyed their clothing black.)  This is why I avoid making outfits more than seventy-five percent black. However, I thought I'd make a simple one for this week....and besides, this a great way to kick off the upcoming Harvestmath season!

Flower Girl - Pennycandy of Gladden

My hobbit mintrel is a character I have no intention of leveling. I had created her for one reason originally--Turning of the Tide's own Hobbits to Isengard event, which I held back in September 2013, long before Sapience held it for each server. To tell the truth, Forgotten Darkness of Gladden was the first community, that I know of, to run that event in early 2012. Community events or not, I decided to keep little level 8 Pennycandy and use her as an additional model. So far, she's provided me with a significant amount of practice in clothing hobbits casually. I highly doubt I'll have any battle-ready outfits for that race.

Simple Fashion - Dress Ideas

It's been about a month since my first "Simple Fashion" installment. This week, I'm bringing you some ideas for various dresses obtained in the game. Last time I checked, there around 40 dresses in LOTRO, most of which are long-sleeved, short-sleeved, or sleeveless versions of the same dress. If you discount the alternate variations, you're looking at, maybe, sixteen distinct dress skins between in-game rewards and the LOTRO Store. Honestly, it would be nice to have more in the game, even if it means you see them casually worn or used in RP settings.

Just like last time, no big stories or multiple screenies of one outfit...only three outfit ideas focusing on dresses. And for clarity's sake, I turned off the bloom effect in each of the pictures.

Head: Urdol-helm (Indigo, Isengard instance cluster reward)
Shoulders: Shoulders of the Mighty Verse (Indigo, Moria Minstrel trainer barter item or Lalia's Market)
Chest: Elf-queen's Dress (Indigo, LOTRO Store or Spring Festival random gift-box reward)

Spring Series - Floral Queen

Here's the next installment in this year's Spring Series. You've probably noticed, or you will now that I've told you, these season-themed outfits are brightly colored and very casual. For the most part, I've been on this lengthy stretch of outfits geared towards combat and adventuring. This week, and perhaps next week as well, I'm showcasing a social outfit. I've caught wind that some RPers from Landroval and Laurelin follow this blog and I'd hate to leave them feeling excluded. I've attended various events myself, such as the weekly Ales & Tales and the Eriador Music Society's concerts. Many players come well dressed and sometimes in large groups wearing the same outfit!